Prison service - chaos
Chaos in the wings, lack of respect from management, and absence of support are among the reasons for the surge in prison officers resigning. 33% of outgoing officers in the past 12 months had been in the service for less than a year, prompting concerns that the crisis in UK jails is being exacerbated by dwindling retention rates. Critics of the system say that the new officers are not adequately trained and are forced into challenging and sometimes dangerous situations before they are prepared or equipped to do so, leading to them quitting within months. Rory Stewart, the minister of state for justice, said recently that ‘drug-fuelled prison violence is affecting up to 20 jails’: see Also a recent BBC report stated that hundreds of prison staff have been caught smuggling banned items into prisons. The Prison Officers Association said the value of the drug market in jail is around £100m. Low-paid staff are enticed and paid handsomely to smuggle drugs. See
Russia ready to be cut off from internet
If Western sanctions go as far as excluding Russia from the World Wide Web, the country's own internet is ready, according to Russia’s presidential aide on the internet. ‘Technically, we are ready for anything now,’ he said. However, the shutdown will not be painless. Failures always occur when moving from one technology to another, and those keeping data abroad will experience difficulties. Russia has a data privacy law. All companies processing personal data of Russian citizens are obliged to store it on servers within the country’s borders. The professional network website LinkedIn has already been banned in Russia for refusing to comply. Twitter and other social networks have agreed to move data about Russians to the country.
Nominals: Europe’s mission field
How do you persuade someone who already thinks they’re a Christian to become one? The largest mission field in Western Europe is not self-identifying atheists or Muslim immigrants; it is people who call themselves Christians but exhibit few, if any, signs of faith. A Pew Research Centre report stated that people who identify with Christianity, but rarely or never attend church services, make up the biggest segment of the region’s population. 46% of Western Europeans are non-practising Christians, 18% are regular church attendees, 24% are religiously unaffiliated, and 5% follow other faiths.
Eritrea: potential for change
Eritrea could be on the verge of major change. For 20+ years, it has battled with Ethiopia and Somalia. President Afewerki’s regime conscripts citizens indefinitely into fighting its wars, and represses opposition. Much of Eritrea’s money has gone to defence against enemies, resulting in it being one of the poorest countries, with a mass exodus of Eritreans to Europe part of the biggest global migration crisis since World War II. However, Ethiopia now has a new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. He has already made a number of significant changes to government policy, including freeing thousands of political prisoners and amending a harsh anti-terrorism law. He has extended a hand of peace to Eritrea and agreed to a peace deal. Thousands of people celebrated, the border is open, embassies will open, and the countries will work together to strengthen ports, resume air flights, open telephone lines, and more. Afewerki’s regime has made Christians suffer as the 6th worst persecuted in the world, but Abiy has recently released 35 Christians from prison. Pray for Islamic extremists in the region to lose their power due to his influence.
